1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a system and method for prioritizing potential threats identified by a plurality of vehicle active safety systems and, more particularly, to a system and method for prioritizing potential threats identified by a plurality of vehicle active safety systems that uses context information, such as local map, traffic, weather and vehicle state data.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
The operation of modern vehicles is becoming more autonomous, i.e., vehicles are able to provide driving control with less driver intervention. Cruise control systems have been on vehicles for a number of years where the vehicle operator can set a particular speed of the vehicle, and the vehicle will maintain that speed without the driver operating the throttle. Adaptive cruise control systems have been recently developed where not only does the system maintain the set speed, but also will automatically slow the vehicle down in the event that a slower moving vehicle is detected in front of the subject vehicle using various sensors, such as radar, LiDAR and cameras. Modern vehicle control systems may also include autonomous parking where the vehicle will automatically provide the steering control for parking the vehicle, and where the control system will intervene if the driver makes harsh steering changes that may affect vehicle stability and lane centering capabilities, where the vehicle system attempts to maintain the vehicle near the center of the lane. Fully autonomous vehicles have been demonstrated that drive in simulated urban traffic up to 30 mph.
As vehicle systems improve, they will become more autonomous with the goal being a completely autonomously driven vehicle. Future vehicles will likely employ autonomous systems for lane changing, passing, turns away from traffic, turns into traffic, etc. U.S. Pat. No. 8,190,330, issued May 29, 2012, titled “Model Based Predictive Control for Automated Lane Centering/Changing Control Systems,” assigned to the assignee of this application and herein incorporated by reference, discloses a system and method for providing steering angle control for lane centering and lane changing purposes in an autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle. U.S. Pat. No. 8,170,751, issued May 1, 2012, titled “Detection of Driver Intervention During a Torque Overlay Operation in an Electric Power Steering System,” assigned to the assignee of this application and herein incorporated by reference, discloses a system and method for controlling vehicle steering by detecting a driver intervention in a torque overly operation.
Modern vehicles sometimes include a collision avoidance system that employs object detection sensors that enable collision warning or avoidance and other active safety applications. The object detection sensors may use any of a number of technologies, such as short range radar, long range radar, cameras with image processing, laser or LiDAR, ultrasound, etc. The object detection sensors detect vehicles and other objects in the path of a host vehicle, and the application software uses the object detection information to provide warnings or take actions as appropriate.
Other active safety systems have been implemented on vehicles, or are currently envisioned to be implemented on vehicles, such as stopped vehicle ahead (SVA) systems, forward collision avoidance (FCA) systems, pedestrian detection (PD) systems, rear cross traffic avoidance (RCTA) systems, collision imminent steering (CIS) systems, left turn across path (LTAP) systems, later collision prevention (LCP) systems, straight crossing path (SCP) systems, etc. These various active safety systems typically operate independently of each other, and periodically calculate threat-levels to warn the vehicle operator and/or control vehicle actuators (steering/braking/throttle) for the particular application. The known active safety systems are statically prioritized in that the operation of one particular safety system may take precedent over the operation of another active safety system as an initially calibrated control without concern for the particular driving situation of the vehicle. Because of these priorities, only one of the warning and/or control features for a particular active safety system is presented to the vehicle operator.
Because of the number of potential available active safety systems and the limits on prioritizing the response to potential threats identified by those systems, it is desirable to improve the prioritizing of the responses based on the current driving situation on the vehicle. For example, future vehicle active safety systems will include prioritized control for vehicles navigating an intersection that could include multiple driving situations. These various active safety systems may be properly prioritized when a vehicle is navigating an intersection, but would not suitably apply for other driving situations, such as a vehicle traveling in a parking lot.